Seeking Refuge? - Rights of Women

Article 15 states that serious harm includes the
death penalty, execution, torture or a serious
threat to a civilian’s life because of indiscriminate
violence in an armed conflict. A civilian is
someone who is not a soldier. Armed conflicts
may be wars between countries or wars between
different groups of people in the same country (a
civil war). Indiscriminate violence is violence that
cannot be predicted or is random or arbitrary.
Things to remember
• You have a right in international law to seek
protection in the UK if your own State is
unwilling or unable to protect you from
persecution.
• In addition to the Refugee Convention, the UK
also has to follow the European Convention on
Human Rights. This means that if you are not
entitled to protection under the Refugee
Convention, you cannot be returned to your
home country if certain rights, such as the right
to be free from torture, inhuman or degrading
treatment, would be breached.
• Where you are claiming protection in the UK
from persecution or some form of serious harm
in your home country, you have will have to
explain:
• Who you fear the harm from, and why; what
the harm is and why you fear that you,
personally, are at risk.
• If you fear harm from a non-State actor,
whether your State is willing or able to
protect you from the harm, and why.
• Whether there is another part of the country
that you could go to that would be safe and
if not, why not.
• If you are claiming protection in the UK on the
basis of your family life, you will need to explain:
• Who your family life is with.
• Whether or not they would return to your
country with you (this is particularly important
when your family life is with someone who is
British, or has Indefinite Leave to Remain).
• What would happen to your family life if you
were forced to return to your country.
• If you are not entitled to protection under the
Refugee Convention or the European
Convention on Human Rights, you may be
entitled to protection under the Qualification
Directive. The Qualification Directive protects
civilians from violence faced as a consequence of
indiscriminate violence in an armed conflict such
as a civil war.
Support organisations
For legal information and advice on immigration
and asylum law, see:
• Anti-Trafficking Legal Project (ATLeP)
• Asylum Aid (includes the Refugee Women’s
Resource Project)
• Community Legal Advice
• Immigration Advisory Service
• Immigration Lawyers Practitioners Association
• Refugee and Migrant Justice (formerly the
Refugee Legal Centre)
• Rights of Women
To discuss any other problem, contact your local
One Stop Service:
• Refugee Action
• Refugee Council
• Migrant Helpline
• North of England Refugee Service
• Welsh Refugee Council
See Chapter 12 at the end of this book for the
contact details of these, and other useful
organisations.
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